


Burning Books

by di93



Series: Inquisitorial Enigma [11]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Fluff, M/M, nerds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-29 15:04:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7689184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/di93/pseuds/di93
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kaaras surprises Dorian. It goes well. Mostly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Burning Books

“Dorian,” Kaaras called from the edge of the bookshelves. He said the other mage’s name as if he didn’t really expect to find him in his usual spot, as if he was overcome with relief to see him there. Dorian marked his page and looked up, pretending that the other man’s voice didn’t just make his toes curl with pleasure inside his boots.

“What a sight for sore eyes. What can I do for you, Inquisitor?”

“Would you come with me? I want to show you something,” Kaaras replied, smiling just a little in spite of the heat spreading across the back of his neck. He wasn’t sure how it was that just a greeting from Dorian could leave him blushing, but the Qunari hoped with every bit of his heart that it could stay that way forever.

“And where, exactly, are we headed?”

“I found something I think you’ll like,” Kaaras replied cryptically, not even looking back as he headed down the spiraled stairs.

“A surprise, then?” Dorian asked, and Kaaras nodded, only glancing back when Dorian sighed. “Well, lead on then.”

And so he did, leading them down towards the kitchens and then towards one of the many doors in the depths of Skyhold. Then, with a smile, he opened the heavy door, gesturing for Dorian to enter first. With a raised eyebrow, Dorian sauntered in, but then froze, standing stock still as he took in the dusty, cobweb-filled room. Not only was there a tray of fruit and cheese on the desk at the far end of the room, along with a bottle of wine and two goblets, there were also books. Hundreds of them were packed tightly into the shelves, obviously untouched from the last occupants of the keep ages ago. Dorian hardly breathed for fear of the shifting air making the ancient parchment crumble into dust, but when he took a tentative step closer to the shelves, he could feel the ever-so slight hum of magic carved into the bookcases. He could hardly make out the runes they were so faded, but even then, it was in a language so ancient and foreign, he wasn’t sure he could decipher it even if it were carved that morning. But when he raised his hands towards the runes, he could feel the cool, dry pull of the fade. Temperature and moisture control, then.

Finally, Dorian breathed out heavily, mind whirring a mile a minute before he heard the door shut heavily behind him and he spun to face the Inquisitor who was regarding him curiously.

“So what do you—“

Kaaras didn’t have a chance to finish his question as Dorian sealed their lips together. In his surprise, Kaaras stumbled backwards, hitting his back against the door, but he wrapped his arms around Dorian, holding him close as he returned the kiss. After a moment, Kaaras started to pull back, but with an almost-growl, Dorian didn’t allow it.

Soft kisses and shy flirting were pleasant enough, but at that moment, Dorian had no patience for it. Instead, he knotted his fingers into the man’s silver hair and crushed their lips together again, not relenting even when Kaaras let out a surprised gasp. But it was only a moment before the Qunari gave in, melting into the kiss with a hum that Dorian felt reverberate throughout his entire body. Then, suddenly, the ground was missing from below Dorian’s feet. Kaaras swallowed the man’s surprised sound and turned them so Dorian felt stone digging into his back.

Groaning, he tried to wrap his legs around Kaaras’s waist, but he was barely able to cross his ankles. One of Kaaras’s hands slid down from Dorian’s back to help support him while his other left Dorian entirely to brace against the wall.

They kissed each other breathless, and Dorian felt like he was going mad. The fade itched at the back of his mind as he felt the rune-carved shelves digging into his back and the Qunari’s fade-marked hand gripping his arse. And given that Dorian’s legs were wrapped tightly around the man’s waist, it was impossible not to notice the man’s substantial desire.

Biting at the man’s lower lip while wearing a wicked smile, Dorian gave a tentative roll of his hips and he was met with both reciprocation and a growl that rumbled against his own chest. Dorian repeated the action and Kaaras gasped his name. The broken sound sent a bolt straight to Dorian’s core, wanting nothing more than to hear it again. So he ground himself against the man again, but rather than hearing his name, he felt a flash of the fade behind him and a sudden wave of heat followed by a bitter chill. Kaaras stumbled back, tripping over a long-forgotten stack of books, and Dorian let out a little yelp as they fell gracelessly to the ground. There was a crash behind Kaaras, and Dorian opened his eyes to see that the man’s metallic horns had knocked down a shelf as they fell. Kaaras was rubbing the back of his head but then gave Dorian a sheepish smile, red flooding his face.

“I think I might have singed the bookshelves,” he said with an embarrassed laugh, and Dorian huffed a laugh of his own before leaning down to kiss the man again, one last time, before standing up and trying to ignore his own wobbly knees as he inspected the frosted shelf. Evidently, the runes were quite efficient at quickly reacting to temperature changes. He would certainly have to study those later.

“Did I do any damage?” Kaaras asked behind him, peering over his head to look at the bookshelf as well, afraid that he had ruined some of the ancient tomes, but Dorian shook his head.

“Just a few burn marks in the shelves, it looks like,” he confirmed before looking up at Kaaras with a smirk. “Though it seems I’ll have to be careful not to kiss you near flammable objects, hm?”

Immediately, Kaaras’s face burned with embarrassment and he glanced away and coughed a little.

“That, um. Might be a good idea, yes,” he agreed, though he couldn’t help feeling just a bit disappointed. He almost would have preferred letting Skyhold burn down if Dorian just kept kissing him like that.

Shaking himself, he tried to focus on his reading practice while Dorian perused the shelves. And so they spent the rest of the night in the hidden library, secretly glancing at one another and hiding secret smiles as they tried to work.


End file.
